Grove City, OH – Freshman filly pacer She’safirewoman has shown lots of promise for trainer Mark Winters.
“She’s a fast horse, and she’s very smart,” Winters said.
Owned by Harry Horowitz, of Brooklyn, N.Y., She’safirewoman has hit the board in all seven starts this season with six wins and one second to go with $144,189 in earnings. Headlining her resume is a 4-for-4 showing in the Ohio Sires Stakes. She’s looking to complete a perfect 5-for-5 run on Saturday (Sept. 6) as Eldorado Scioto Downs hosts three $50,000 divisions in the fifth leg of the OSS for 2-year-old filly pacers.
She’safirewoman is a filly by Catch The Fire out of Shesasmokinlady, who recorded 20 wins and over $300,000 in earnings in her four-year racing career from 2015 to 2018. Winters said she trained down like a normal horse, never showing any obvious signs of turning into the highly successful racehorse she has become.
“She always did what I asked her to do but not more,” he said.
But, he added, she has been a pleasure to train.
“She’ll let you do what you want to do when you want to do it instead of it being her way or no way, which helps a lot. She’s not hard to deal with in the barn, and she likes her job,” Winters said. “Sometimes she’ll get upset if you’re not getting to her quick enough to jog. Not really upset, but she lets you know she’s there. It’s like she’s saying, ‘Hey, it’s my turn to go.’”
Showing plenty of speed, She’safirewoman won the opening leg of the OSS at MGM Northfield Park on July 13 in 1:54.3 and paced a lifetime-best 1:51.4 in the second leg at Scioto. Her wins in the third leg at Northfield and fourth leg at Scioto came in 1:54.2 and 1:53.1, respectively, giving her a comfortable lead in the OSS standings with 204 points.
Luke Hanners was in the sulky for each of those victories and is set to drive her again on Saturday as the 7-5 morning-line favorite in the first division. She will leave from post two alongside 5-2 second choice Shehasaway (Brett Miller), who won a division in the fourth leg in 1:53. Shehasaway has two wins and one second in three seasonal starts and is trained by Steve Bauder.
Winters said She’safirewoman perhaps owes her success partly to having drawn some favorable post positions thus far but credits the filly for being a talented, versatile racehorse.
“Luke can do what he wants to do with her when he wants to do it,” he said. “She has raced a lot on the front, but I don’t think she has to. Training down, she was better coming from behind. She liked to chase down other horses versus being in the front.”
As for whether she can pull out another OSS victory, that remains uncertain, Winters said.
“It all depends on if I’ve done my job,” he said. “I’ve learned through the years not to get your hopes up and not to be too confident because they’ll let you down real quick. Whatever happens will happen.”
However, should she get that fifth OSS win of the season, Winters would be elated.
“That would be so great,” he said.
In Other Action
In the second division, Stride For Stride (Justin Irvine) is the slight morning-line favorite at 5-2 ahead of 3-1 co-second choices She’s Lit (Tyler Smith) and Zooom Call (Dan Noble). Lather Up filly Stride For Stride is trained by Garry Martin. She has four wins and one second in six seasonal starts. She’s Lit will leave from the rail next to Zooom Call in post two. She’s Lit has one win, two seconds, and one third in seven seasonal starts and is trained by Scott Mogan. The Steve Carter-trained Zooom Call has two seconds and three thirds in seven starts this season.
Shacarri (Chris Page) is the 3-2 morning-line favorite in the third division. Trained by Ron Burke, the Summa Cum Laude filly has one OSS victory — in the third leg in 1:55 — as part of three overall wins in six starts this season and will leave from the far outside alongside 7-2 second choice Sassy By The Sea (Noble) in post six. Sassy By The Sea is trained by Herman Hagerman and has hit the board once in five seasonal starts, placing third.
The Ohio Sires Stakes for freshman filly pacers is part of a 16-race, $1.26 million card at Eldorado Scioto Downs on Saturday that also includes two $250,000 Grand Circuit events in the Charlie Hill Memorial and the Jim Ewart Memorial. Also in the card are two $65,000 divisions each of the fifth leg of the OSS for sophomore male and filly trotters and filly pacers and three $50,000 divisions of the fifth leg for freshman male pacers.
First-race post time is 5:45 p.m. (EDT).